October 29, 2007

Mary from Alpineberry chose this month's Daring Baker's Challenge. She first tasted it twelve years ago in San Francisco and later the recipe was published in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. The recipe was developed by Donna Scala and Kurtis L. Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni's restaurant in San Francisco. It was the San Francisco Chronicle's award winning recipe for 1996. Donna Scala is the owner of Don Giovanni's restaurant and Kurtis Baguley is now the Executive Pastry Chef of the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City where he serves a Bostini Trifle.

The original portions of this recipe were quite large, so I divided it into quarters. It made 5 small Bostini Cream Pie's.

1. In a small bowl, pour the lite coconut milk and cornstarch and stir until smooth.

2. Dump in the whole egg and egg yolks, then whisk until smooth.

3. In a saucepan, pour in the coconut milk, vanilla extract and agave syrup. Slowly bring to a boil. As soon as it has come to a boil, pour several spoonfuls into the egg mixture to temper it. Whisk to combine the liquids. Slowly pour the tempered egg mixture into the saucepan. Constantly stirring, cook the cream mixture until the liquid has thickened.

4. Strain the custard and pour into 8 cupcake foils. Place in the refrigerator to chill.

Making the Chiffon Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place 8 cupcake foils on a cookie sheet that are the same size as the ones used for the coconut custard.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flours, sugar, baking power and salt. Dump in the coconut oil, eggs yolks, orange juice, zest and vanilla extract, stir until smooth. Take care not to overbeat.

3. In a large bowl or the bowl to your mixer, beat the egg whites until frothy. Dump in the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.

4. Fold the egg whites into the cake batter. Then pour the cake batter into the cupcake foils.

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake top springs back when pressed with your fingertip. Cool the cakes on a wire rack. After they have cooled down, cover them with a towel so that they will remain moist.

Making the Chocolate Glaze

1. In a small saucepan, dump in the butter and heat it until it just starts to bubble. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir the butter and chocolate together, so that the chocolate will melt. Work the chocolate in until the mixture is smooth. If your sauce is a little lumpy, go ahead and strain the glaze.

2. When ready to build the Bostini Cream pie, make sure the chocolate glaze is warm.

To Make Bostini Cream Pie1. On a plate, place down one chiffon cake layer making sure to remove the cake from the cupcake foil.

2. On top of the chiffon cake, place one of the coconut custard cups. If your custard did not completely firm up, scoop it out with a spoon and place on top of the cake.

3. On top of the coconut custard, place another layer of the chiffon cake. Remove it from the cupcake foil.

4. Drizzle with the warm chocolate glaze. Makes 4 Bostini Cream Pies.

What did my family think of Bostini Cream Pies? My children liked the chocolate sauce and my daughter liked the coconut custard. Neither one of them cared for the cake. My husband was in heaven as Boston Cream Pie is one of his favorite desserts. My husband and I thought that all together the Bostini had a nice flavor, but while the chocolate glaze and coconut custard were delightful, the cake was not our favorite.

Thank you Mary for a great challenge!

* Note: You can find two different types of coconut milk at your local health food store or Whole Foods, lite coconut milk that can be poured straight out of the can or coconut milk that you will need to remove the top of the can to remove. Coconut milk is very thick with some liquid that has usually settled at the bottom of the can. Before using the coconut milk, remove it from the can and place into a medium sized bowl. Stir it together before measuring out the quantity you need for a recipe. (I purchased my lite and regular coconut milk from my local Whole Foods where it was located in the Asian Foods section.)

Looks so good. I find it interesting how you adapted the recipe for the gluten free diet. Do you feel the diffrent gluten free flours had a impact on the taste? I so tempted to start playing with coconut milk now.

Wow, it looks like a plate you'd get in a restaurant! You had to do a lot of adjustments not just the regular challenge but the gluten-free challenge on top of that and also no (cows) dairy? Curious about the combo with coconut...

Hi and WoW! Your idea of changing the flavor to coconut was terrific! I love your presentation of the Bostini and I was wondering if changing the ingredients to make this gluten - free changed the texture of the cake? Baking is such a science and you definitely have my curiousity peaked =D

I just read your lovely, inspiring comment on my blog - although Kiwi was not part of a rescue group, we did save her life (I wrote about it in my second blog post EVER - her story is quite compelling). It's so nice to have "met" another blogger who loves Shelties as much as my family and I do!! :0)

As much as I'd LOVE to be a Daring Baker (and am quite honored/appreciative that you mentioned it), I doubt I'd be able to fully participate, since I obviously cannot use the common ingredients that most Darings Bakers use (i.e. eggs, dairy, etc.), since I'm a vegan...

Wow, the idea of custard built on coconut milk is incredibly appealing! One of my favorite Thai restaurants serves coconut custard over their rice pudding, but it's more of a sauce. It looks like yours set up. Great job!